This article was published on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:45 p.m. Jan. 8, 2026.
After Innovation Asset Management announced last month that it would acquire precision control technology company Mobiis, a person has come forward filing a lawsuit claiming the acquisition is an attempt at stock manipulation. Some observers note that Innovation Asset Management and the person who challenged it previously clashed at CCS CHUNG-BUK CABLE TV COMPANY, which was a superconductivity-themed stock early last year, and say the bad blood from that episode may have carried over.
On the 8th, investment banking industry sources and the Financial Supervisory Service electronic disclosure system showed Innovation Asset Management on Dec. 2 signed a contract to purchase 8,370,072 shares (26.02%) owned by Mobiis CEO Kim Ji-heon for 45 billion won. Mobiis is a corporation that holds precision control technology based on experimental physics and industrial control systems (EPICS) used in large-scale scientific facilities such as particle accelerators, fusion reactors and large telescopes, and it aims to expand into quantum computing and artificial intelligence (AI) businesses in the future.
Innovation Asset Management paid a 2 billion won deposit and plans to pay the remaining 43 billion won the day before the shareholders meeting to change the articles of incorporation and take over management rights. With the shareholders meeting scheduled for the 27th, it planned to complete the acquisition process within this month.
However, the acquisition plan hit a potential snag when a provisional injunction to prohibit the shareholders meeting was filed on the 6th. The person who filed the lawsuit, a person surnamed Choi, alleges that the stock sale contract between CEO Kim Ji-heon and Innovation Asset Management artificially drove up the stock price to try to pay the acquisition price. Indeed, Mobiis's stock price rose sharply after Innovation Asset Management announced the acquisition. Mobiis closed at 2,720 won on Dec. 2 and reached 4,350 won on Jan. 8, about a month later. Expectations about the management takeover and new businesses appear to have driven the stock higher.
Innovation Asset Management calls it a meaningless disruption. A representative for Innovation Asset Management said, "We have only signed a contract and have not received rights related to the shares," and added, "We do not even hold the shares, so it is physically impossible to raise acquisition funds through a stock price surge and stock-collateralized loans."
But Choi and Innovation Asset Management are entangled over another matter. They have a history of clashing at CCS CHUNG-BUK CABLE TV COMPANY, which saw its stock surge as a superconductivity theme stock in the past.
CCS CHUNG-BUK CABLE TV COMPANY (Chungbuk Broadcasting) saw its stock skyrocket after it was acquired by Content House 210 in 2023 and brought in the developer of "LK-99," linking it to the superconductivity theme. LK-99 is a substance domestic researchers developed in late 2023 and claimed to be a room-temperature superconductor, but room-temperature superconductivity has still not been recognized. CCS CHUNG-BUK CABLE TV COMPANY later became subject to a delisting review due to disclosure violations and poor performance, and it is currently suspended from trading.
Innovation Asset Management appeared in the CCS CHUNG-BUK CABLE TV COMPANY episode at the end of last year after the superconductivity controversy had somewhat cooled. At the end of last year, Innovation Asset Management joined forces with the CCS CHUNG-BUK CABLE TV COMPANY emergency response committee and attempted to enter the board as an inside director by investing 30 billion won in the company. But another shareholder group called the shareholder coalition reacted against it.
The person who filed this lawsuit, a person surnamed Choi, also served as a director of CCS CHUNG-BUK CABLE TV COMPANY in the past and has a history of activity in the shareholder coalition. That is why some speculate his dispute with Innovation Asset Management led him to surface in the Mobiis matter. Choi claims he currently holds about 10 million won worth of Mobiis shares, but his actual share ownership has not been verified.
A source in the capital markets industry said, "It appears the management dispute surrounding CCS CHUNG-BUK CABLE TV COMPANY may have affected a separate acquisition," and added, "This lawsuit could be an attempt to seize the initiative in the CCS CHUNG-BUK CABLE TV COMPANY management dispute."
Mobiis said, "A person surnamed Choi has a history of filing multiple lawsuits against other KOSDAQ-listed companies such as Irobotics," and argued, "Considering that record, this provisional injunction seems to be an extension of disputes intended to hinder the growth of a sound company."
Even if this lawsuit is concluded without major problems, controversy surrounding Innovation Asset Management's acquisition of Mobiis is likely to continue.
Questions continue about whether there are hidden motives behind the acquisition price. At the time of investment, Innovation Asset Management's purchased equity was worth only about 22 billion won, yet it agreed to pay 45 billion won, applying a management control premium of more than double, fueling controversy over an overpriced purchase. Also, because the investor Innovation Asset Management is classified as a financial company, it cannot acquire a regular company without approval from financial authorities. Innovation Asset Management later corrected its disclosure to change the contracting party to "Innovation Asset Management or a party designated by Innovation Asset Management," but the contract is known to be planned to be carried out by Innovation Asset Management as originally intended.
Innovation Asset Management said, "This was never a deal premised on resale," and added, "We are establishing a continuous and stable post-acquisition management plan."